Monday’s Meditation: On Returning To The Light

October 16, 2017

When you feel like the world around you is falling apart, read this.

Among the mental catalogue of images I’ve seen throughout my life is an illustration from The Cat in the Hat. It’s the one where the children are sitting at the window, looking, with dismay, at a day of dark and stormy rain.

Their despair is palpable. They are pent up, forlorn, and at a loss for how they’ll fill their time.

Children’s books always contain the most wisdom, if you ask me. And so it seems that image is the most fitting metaphor for how so many of us are looking out at the world today.

The scene is depressingly morbid. It’s wrecked and ravaged and shows no signs of letting up; the storm appears to worsen by the minute.

How can we go on, smiling and laughing and buying asparagus at the store when the world around us is falling apart?

As responsible denizens of the world, it’s up to us to stay informed. But there is only so much window-watching one can endure. The risk of staring for too long at a time at the grizzly scene unfolding is that we sink to its depths. Hopelessness and darkness become the lenses that permanently affix themselves to our eyes.

But surrounding ourselves in darkness does not summon the light.

It is none of our duties to punish ourselves by proxy by gluing ourselves to the Breaking News without a moment’s break.

As difficult as it can be at times, the most loving thing we can do is to accept our responsibility of stepping away from the bleakness of the scene outside our windows and attending to the business of lifting our spirits.

We step away. We allow ourselves to close the shades, and, for a spell, let the mad world spin on without our watching.

We do this not because we are selfish. Or because we lack compassion, empathy, or determination to create change. We do it because we must return ourselves to the light.

The uplifted uplift. The lightful spread light.

Do not feel guilty for your glorious life. Bask in it. Be actively grateful for it. Tilt your head back to the warmth of your sun and let yourself be filled with its rays.

Only then can you go out into the world and be a force for good; phosphorescence tempering the darkness.

3 Comments

  1. Bev on October 16, 2017 at 7:08 am

    🙂

  2. Michelle on October 16, 2017 at 10:15 am

    I’m a long-time reader, but non-commenter. I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to you, and to say “thank you” for this post in particular. It’s a very thoughtful, much-needed reminder in this current climate. Hope, optimism, kindness, and joy can be infectious, so thank you for spreading them! I’m a big fan of the messages that you put out into the world – from your wit, humor, and much needed kick-in-the-pants regarding taking charge of (and simplifying) our lives, to your meditations on relaxation and self-care. You make a positive contribution to the world and inspire/remind me to do my part, as well. Thank you.

    • Annie on October 18, 2017 at 8:03 pm

      It’s quite a feat to be able to genuinely acknowledge a stranger over the internet, and to make them feel deeply seen and understood. That you have managed to do so in ONE comment says so much more about you than it does about me. It tells me that you have an incredible capacity for those very things you thanked ME for spreading–optimism, kindness, and joy. Plus, you’re beautifully articulate, to boot.

      THANK YOU, Michelle, for this gem of a comment (and for reading!). It’s going in my “DON’T QUIT BLOGGING” file without question.

      xooxoxox

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3 Comments

  1. Bev on October 16, 2017 at 7:08 am

    🙂

  2. Michelle on October 16, 2017 at 10:15 am

    I’m a long-time reader, but non-commenter. I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to you, and to say “thank you” for this post in particular. It’s a very thoughtful, much-needed reminder in this current climate. Hope, optimism, kindness, and joy can be infectious, so thank you for spreading them! I’m a big fan of the messages that you put out into the world – from your wit, humor, and much needed kick-in-the-pants regarding taking charge of (and simplifying) our lives, to your meditations on relaxation and self-care. You make a positive contribution to the world and inspire/remind me to do my part, as well. Thank you.

    • Annie on October 18, 2017 at 8:03 pm

      It’s quite a feat to be able to genuinely acknowledge a stranger over the internet, and to make them feel deeply seen and understood. That you have managed to do so in ONE comment says so much more about you than it does about me. It tells me that you have an incredible capacity for those very things you thanked ME for spreading–optimism, kindness, and joy. Plus, you’re beautifully articulate, to boot.

      THANK YOU, Michelle, for this gem of a comment (and for reading!). It’s going in my “DON’T QUIT BLOGGING” file without question.

      xooxoxox

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